Blog Article

Birth of Porcupine Quillting

So, how did an experienced (certainly not old) married couple decide to start up a business when they should be setting their sights on retirement? Good question...

My wife, Rita, has been quilting for over 30 years. She always said that she would love to have a long arm quilting machine. Unfortunately, the cost of a long arm quilting machine is pretty hard to justify for a hobby. At some point it occurred to us that we may be able to turn Rita's hobby into a source of income during retirement. That brought the cost of the machine into the realm of possible.

We decided to take the plunge and purchased a demo machine from American Professional Quilting Systems located in Carroll, Iowa (an amazing company by the way !!!). Our plan was to take 2 or 3 years to practice and get good at quilting before we offered our services for money.

Then life, as it so often does, threw us a curve ball. Rita was literally shown the door after the company she worked at for 32 years eliminated her job. We decided to take this as a sign that we were meant to get our business up and running sooner than we had planned. We purchased the computerized controller for the machine to allow us to put out a quality product and short circuit the learning curve associated with running the machine manually. We've been quilting for friends and family and also quilting for charities such as Quilts for Kids and Quilts of Valor. We’re now ready to take the leap and begin actively seeking new business. Things often have a way of turning out for the best and that's what we feel about the adventure that lies ahead. We have something that will provide us with income, purpose and a means to give back to the community. Let the adventure begin!!!!